Treated Sewage Pollutes Water in Calabasas

Drinking water in the system serving two local schools and as many as 1,600 homes in hillside neighborhoods was contaminated with treated sewage water intended for irrigation after a plumber working on a landscaping job mistakenly crossed two pipes, officials said Thursday.

The tainted water, which is not considered a health hazard in small amounts, traveled to faucets and drinking fountains overnight Wednesday, according to the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District, before being discovered by district officials.

Residents are being warned not to drink from their faucets or from local water vending machines until the water is tested clean.

Two students at Calabasas High School complained of nausea after drinking from fountains Thursday before warnings were issued in a public address announcement at midday, school officials said. About noon, students at Chaparral Elementary School were also warned not to drink from fountains, officials said.

Water agency spokeswoman Arlene Post said samples of water that may have reached the school and the gated community of Mulwood were tested Thursday for potentially harmful bacteria. Results are expected today.

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Post said she did not know exactly how much of the treated sewage reached drinking supplies but characterized it as a “tiny” amount from a “narrow” pipe.

“The probability that there’s a problem is extremely slim,” she said. “But we understand people are concerned.”

Phones at the district’s headquarters began ringing off the hook once word of the contamination spread, Post said. A recorded message told callers not to use tap water until further notice.

Edmund Brettschneider, who lives on Meadowlark Drive, said he had noticed a mildewy smell in his tap water for the past couple of days. Late Thursday, he said he was not going to take any chances and was stocking up on bottled water.

Water district officials were alerted to the problem late Wednesday, when a customer called to report foul-smelling water coming out of the tap, Post said. Maintenance workers, however, could not find any problem until Thursday morning.

Post said they finally discovered that an unidentified plumber working on a landscaping project in the tony hilltop neighborhood mistakenly connected a recycled-water line to a drinking-water line. Water district officials plan to find the plumber and may charge him for the cost of the cleanup.

Once officials learned of the problem, Post said, notices warning customers not to drink their tap water were delivered to 1,600 homes and the two schools.

“We’re not saying all these people were affected,” Post said. “We contacted everyone who possibly could have been affected.”

Post said the water district has safeguards against such a plumbing mistake: Pipes of different sizes and colors are used for potable and nonpotable water. The district, she said, had only one similar incident several years ago.

The district’s recycled water is safe for bathing and is deemed “gulpable,” according to a notice delivered by hand to water customers in the affected neighborhoods Thursday. Post said the term “gulpable” means the water is not harmful if swallowed in small quantities.

In this case, she said, the tainted water was “significantly diluted” with clean water as well as improved by the residual of disinfectant in the pipes.

Thursday, water district staff worked late flushing fresh water lines. Additional bacteria tests will be conducted today.

Residents will be notified as soon as the water supply is deemed safe for cooking and drinking, officials said.

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Donald Zimring, a spokesman for the Las Virgenes Unified School District, said the district was told about noon Thursday that two of its schools may have received tainted water. He said announcements were immediately made over the public address systems at both schools, warning students and teachers to avoid the water.

He said two students at Calabasas High School were sent to the health office after complaining that they felt nauseated after drinking the water. He said he had no record of the students being sent home or to a hospital.

Students at Chaparral Elementary were also told not to flush toilets at the school, said 6-year-old Katherine Wey. “We could go as long as we did not flush,” she said.

The store manager of a nearby Vons supermarket on Mulholland Highway and Calabasas Road reported that bottled water sales were three times the normal volume on Thursday.

But not everyone was worried.

‘If I had babies maybe I’d be concerned,” said Jack Colman, who lives on Old Topanga Road.

Partap Singh, an associate sanitary engineer with the California Department of Health Services, said elaborate safety measures required of water districts using recycled water for irrigation make such incidents rare.

Sing said the Las Virgenes water district could face sanctions if it is found negligent.

“It doesn’t reflect good on them, though it may not be the fault of the system,” he said.

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Drinking water in the area of Calabasas shown above was possibly contaminated with treated sewage water. As a precaution, the Las Virgenes Water District is recommending residents of that area use bottled water for all drinking and cooking. The district is flushing, disinfecting and retesting the system, which will last until late today or Saturday.